DAYTON – Richmond Heights led by five points almost three minutes into the fourth quarter. But it wasn’t because of offensive execution that the Spartans were in position to win. And more lack of execution followed in the final five minutes.
Botkins found more ways to score at the end of the defensive battle and sent the Spartans home with a stunning 44-40 defeat in the Division IV state semifinals at the University of Dayton Arena.
“This hurts – it hurts bad,” Spartans star Josiah Harris said. “It’s definitely going to turn in to motivation for next season.”
That’s a recurring theme for the Spartans (17-5). They reached the final four two years ago and lost and were alive last year when the tournament was canceled.
Botkins (26-3) will play Columbus Grove (25-2) at 10:45 in Sunday’s championship game.
Both teams are in the final four for the second time and looking for their first state title.
“Offensively, I do not think we executed at all,” Spartans coach Quentin Rogers said. “A lot of it was just movement. We didn’t run anything different than we’ve been running. It just wasn’t getting executed.”
Harris scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but he wasn’t impressed.
“It wasn’t enough,” he said. “We didn’t get the job done … it wasn’t enough.”
Botkins led most of the first half and led 27-24 at halftime. But after an early 3-pointer in the second half, the Trojans were scoreless for 10-and-a-half minutes. The Spartans took a 35-30 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We finally settled down and locked in, stuck to the game plan,” Rogers said. “And we were very active. I thought we carried it into the fourth quarter.”
Botkins rallied behind two 3-pointers by reserve Jameson Meyer and the re-emergence of point guard Jayden Priddy-Powell, who scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half and his last five down the stretch.
Down 43-40 after a Priddy-Powell free throw with 21 seconds left, the Spartans missed a difficult 3-point attempt and the Trojans had the game.
“We wanted to run the play,” Rogers said. “I think we panicked and just threw something up.”
Botkins starts a 6-foot-6 post and two 6-5 forwards, but Harris and Preist Ryan still looked to have the physical advantage inside. However, Ryan picked up three fouls in the first half and played only 14 minutes. He finished with eight points and four rebounds.
“It changed the offense with what we wanted to do,” Rogers said. “That definitely hurts a little bit with the execution, but even when he was out there, we didn’t fully execute the game plan that was written up.”
